A WEST Belfast councillor says he hopes to have an update around health and safety works at McKinstry Road by the end of this month.
 
Councillor Danny Baker was speaking following a site visit in and around the new McDonald’s outlet, with Department for Infrastructure (DfI) officials. Cllr Baker said he hoped to see plans and “movement” with regards road improvement works come the end of December.
 
“It is going to cost substantial monies, somewhere in the region of £1.8 million to upgrade and implement what is needed for this stretch of road,” said the Sinn Féin man. “However, it shouldn’t matter how much money this will cost, as these are people’s lives at the end of the day.
 
“We have stressed continually that this is an extremely busy junction; it’s a four-laner with an even more popular fast food restaurant within it. These works need to be a priority for the DfI Minister, it has to be a priority for her department,” he said.
 
He continued: “When we last met with McDonalds, their team have been supportive of our concerns, we heard that in their first seven days of opening they had 8,000 vehicles and 4,000 foot passengers through the doors, they are matching Sprucefield in terms of business and we need the infrastructure in place to allow for such pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

“We welcome investment in this area, absolutely, it’s great to see a business like McDonald’s in the area but we need the road sorted.
 
“It’s health and safety first.”